Ask Sam letter

To Sam15 September 2014

Bullys

help last year I was the weirdo at school so I played on my one plz plz

do something I talked to my teacher she did nothing this year same thing I don't know to trust

Sam15 September 2014

Hi there,

Bullying is something that affects almost 70% of children in the UK. So whilst being bullied can make you feel very alone, there will be a lot of other young people who will relate to your letter. Youve asked me to do something. Unfortunately I cant stop whats happening, but hopefully I can give you some information that might help you decide what to do next and let you know who can support you through this.

It is never okay for someone to bully you. It sounds like you did really well to find the courage to tell a teacher about whats happened at school. Its not okay that they havent done anything to support you. Your school has a duty to protect you and make sure that youre safe whilst youre there.

You havent said whether your parents/carer know about the bullying or whether theyve spoken to school about whats happening. If not, it can be a really good idea to ask them to support you. Your school should also have an anti-bullying policy, which is a document that sets out how they will tackle bullying. You have a right to see that policy and ask questions about it. If your school arent following the policy you can complain about it  again, this might be something that a parent, carer or trusted adult could support you with. There is a lot more information about what can be done to tackle bullying on the Bullying UK website.

I can hear from your letter that being bullied has made it really hard for you to know who you can trust and made you feel really lonely. This is something that lots of young people who have experienced bullying tell me, because often they have been hurt by people who they used to trust. Why not have a look at our top tips for making friends?

You could also visit the message boards to find other young people who have been in your situation to talk to. Another idea is to check out the Beat Bullying website which has lots of support for young people who are being bullied, including a chat room where you can talk to other young people with similar experiences.

You also told me that some of the bullying has happened online. Our online bullying page and our bullying on social networking page have some good advice about staying safe online. Its really important to keep yourself safe online and know that you can block anyone who makes you feel unsafe.